[US] Amazon clashes with corporate employees who became activists

Yesterday a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge was expected to begin a review of a complaint alleging that in 2020 Amazon illegally fired two corporate employees who had been vocal critics of the company, CNN Business reports.

An administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the charges, which were reportedly filed with the NLRB in October by a local branch of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Washington State.

The complaint alleges that Amazon violated federal labour law by firing Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, two employees who had organised workers around climate action and protesting warehouse conditions during the pandemic.

The NLRB in April found merit to Ms Cunningham and Ms Costa's charges, leading to a trial before an administrative law judge. CNN Business summarises the facts below.

Background

Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa were both user experience designers at Amazon and founding members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group of corporate employees who united to advocate on climate issues.

In 2019, the former employees helped organise Amazon workers to stage a walkout in protest of Amazon's climate change response and also spoke out about Amazon's warehouse worker conditions.

The allegations

The workers charge that Amazon violated their rights to self-organise, form or assist unions, and bargain collectively under the National Labor Relations Act.

The complaint says the two were fired in April of 2020 after they "engaged in a variety of protected, concerted activities" with other employees in support of Amazon's warehouse workers in the United States. Amazon, the complaint alleges, fired the workers because of those activities and to discourage other workers from doing so.

On September 28 Amazon defended its termination of the workers.

"We support every employee's rights to criticize their employer's working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies," an Amazon spokesperson said in an email. "We terminated these employees not for speaking about working conditions or safety, but for repeatedly violating internal policies." The company said the workers violated its policies on external communications and solicitation.

When will a ruling be made?

The virtual hearing before the administrative law judge is expected to last several days and can include witness testimony.

Even after a hearing comes to an end, an administrative law judge rarely issues a ruling right away, Mark Gaston Pearce, executive director of the Workers' Rights Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, told CNN Business.

Both sides are given the opportunity to submit briefs after the hearing for the judge to evaluate, and a decision could take as long as six months to issue, he said.

Once the judge makes a decision, either side can appeal to the full, five-member National Labor Relations Board that makes the final determination as to whether Amazon violated the law.

So the judge's decision is, essentially, "tantamount to a recommendation to the board," he said.

Further allegations against Amazon

Ms Cunningham and Ms Costa's complaint is the latest claim of Amazon worker retaliation that the federal agency has found merit in.

In November, the NLRB issued a complaint against Amazon for the illegal termination of a Pennsylvania warehouse worker.

There were at least 37 retaliation charges filed to the agency against Amazon across 20 cities from February of 2020 until March of this year, according to an analysis of NLRB data by NBC News.

Source: CNN Business

(Links via original reporting)

Yesterday a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge was expected to begin a review of a complaint alleging that in 2020 Amazon illegally fired two corporate employees who had been vocal critics of the company, CNN Business reports.

An administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the charges, which were reportedly filed with the NLRB in October by a local branch of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Washington State.

The complaint alleges that Amazon violated federal labour law by firing Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, two employees who had organised workers around climate action and protesting warehouse conditions during the pandemic.

The NLRB in April found merit to Ms Cunningham and Ms Costa's charges, leading to a trial before an administrative law judge. CNN Business summarises the facts below.

Background

Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa were both user experience designers at Amazon and founding members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group of corporate employees who united to advocate on climate issues.

In 2019, the former employees helped organise Amazon workers to stage a walkout in protest of Amazon's climate change response and also spoke out about Amazon's warehouse worker conditions.

The allegations

The workers charge that Amazon violated their rights to self-organise, form or assist unions, and bargain collectively under the National Labor Relations Act.

The complaint says the two were fired in April of 2020 after they "engaged in a variety of protected, concerted activities" with other employees in support of Amazon's warehouse workers in the United States. Amazon, the complaint alleges, fired the workers because of those activities and to discourage other workers from doing so.

On September 28 Amazon defended its termination of the workers.

"We support every employee's rights to criticize their employer's working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies," an Amazon spokesperson said in an email. "We terminated these employees not for speaking about working conditions or safety, but for repeatedly violating internal policies." The company said the workers violated its policies on external communications and solicitation.

When will a ruling be made?

The virtual hearing before the administrative law judge is expected to last several days and can include witness testimony.

Even after a hearing comes to an end, an administrative law judge rarely issues a ruling right away, Mark Gaston Pearce, executive director of the Workers' Rights Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, told CNN Business.

Both sides are given the opportunity to submit briefs after the hearing for the judge to evaluate, and a decision could take as long as six months to issue, he said.

Once the judge makes a decision, either side can appeal to the full, five-member National Labor Relations Board that makes the final determination as to whether Amazon violated the law.

So the judge's decision is, essentially, "tantamount to a recommendation to the board," he said.

Further allegations against Amazon

Ms Cunningham and Ms Costa's complaint is the latest claim of Amazon worker retaliation that the federal agency has found merit in.

In November, the NLRB issued a complaint against Amazon for the illegal termination of a Pennsylvania warehouse worker.

There were at least 37 retaliation charges filed to the agency against Amazon across 20 cities from February of 2020 until March of this year, according to an analysis of NLRB data by NBC News.

Source: CNN Business

(Links via original reporting)